Annual Parterre - Area Annua
“The Annual Parterre is taken up by such plants as are sown outdoors in the summer and whose roots last for one or two years.”
Carl Linnaeus, Hortus Upsaliensis 1745
There are 44 beds in Area annua, and in keeping with Linnaeus' instructions, they are narrow enough to allow one person walking along them to weed them. Annual and biennial plants are grown in the flowerbeds. The biennials form a rosette of leaves in the first year, and flower in the second.
The gates of Area annua and Area perennis were locked in Linnaeus' day. Visitors eager for knowledge were thereby able to see the plants over the hedges, but hindered from purloining any. The visitor who wanted to see more was allowed to do so in the company of Linnaeus, the demonstrator or the gardener.